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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
“I think, in time, you’ll either be my greatest mistake or my greatest victory.”
The King Slayer is the second and final book in The Witch Hunter duology. After the events of the first book, Elizabeth is hiding in Harrow, along with Peter and John, waiting for the council to deliberate between her stay or her exile and recovering from the events of Yule Ball, where Blackwell arrested the king and took the throne. Without her stigma, Elizabeth is recovering slower than usual and all her previous habilites, granted by the magic, are gone, right when she will need everything she can use to fulfill the mission the council gives her on the day of the dreadfully awaited audience - she will have to kill Blackwell. With soldiers and witch hunters invading the safe place, no one is safe anymore, least of all her. After all, Blackwell is after her again. John has his own problems as well - Blackwell's magic within the stigma is clashing with his own and it's affecting him. War is coming to Harrow and it's result will define Anglia's destiny.
I really like Elizabeth as the MC, she's strong, driven and she doesn't hide who she is or what she's done, but rather tries to atone for everything and get revenge for what was done to her. She's a little bit strong willed and impulsive, and sometimes she lets her emotions get the best of her, but that's what makes her such an interesting and real character. She's super sarcastic and her scenes with Schuyler, Malcom and the mercenary makes for funny moments. Her character development in this book was not as great as in the first installment, and her plot was more centered on John and the loss of the stigma, and how she's dealing with it and how everyone is underestimating her and her abilities because of that (John, Peter and Nicholas included). I like that she's not afraid of doing what she thinks it's right and tries to protect the people she loves, despite what everyone thinks and the consequences it could bring her.
Her romance with John, though, it's the weakest part of the book, for me. Since book 1. I can't connect with John as a character, especially in this book - because he's insufferable during pratically all of it and it's even absent in the most part (despite being a main character) - and their chemistry is uninteresting and the relationship feels kind of forced and flat. Even Shuyler has a better chemistry with Elizabeth than her romantic pairing - in here we don't have the physical and/or psychological dependence that Elizabeth seems to have with him, and all the drama feels too much and unnecessary.
This novel was not as good as the first one, though, I missed the action packed and fast pace of the first novel, the surprising and 'DAFUQ' plot twists (there were some pretty 'OMG WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING HERE' moments in this one, but not as much as in the last book) and interesting characters. Most of the characters that made the first book so good weren't as present in this one and were underused to give way to Elizabeth & John's couple drama, and even the characters introduced in this installment were put aside and not as fully explored as they could have been - shame, because Malcom and the mercenary were one of the best things in the book in the few parts they were present and 'important' and they could have been a very nice addition to the plot and the book if they had more space. Despite that, the relationship between Elizabeth & Malcom was one of the things I really liked in the book and how they developed it and how they ended up when the novel was finished was so well done and satisfying. Also, points for the author for more on revenants and their mythology.
The way things were explained here were sometimes confusing and even a bit...loose? I don't know, it didn't feel right or satisfying to me, I thought it could be more thought out. And the final battle was lacking as well. Overall, a good book, but not as good as the first one or the best way to finish a series. It left me unfulfilled. 3.5 stars.
adventurous
medium-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
My expectations for this book were already pretty damn low, and it kind of met those expectations, being just sort of a bland generic fantasy, but it also decided it was a good idea to take a rapist and try to make him a character you feel sorry for while giving no resolution to the rape (which kickstarted the entire plot of this series, mind you) beyond "he's okay and a good person because he's only a rapist because he was ignorant and thought she was just shy, haha".
Ain't nobody got time for that nonsense.
Ain't nobody got time for that nonsense.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment
adventurous
challenging
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Loved it! So many shocking moments I did not see coming!
Review to come...
Review to come...
This is the second book in the series and it was pretty similar to the first book. I liked the characters pretty good and their reactions to things (even if I thought Elizabeth did some not-very-well-thought-out things…). I liked the additional characters that we got to meet and the conflict between Elizabeth and John was interesting. But again, the pacing of the plot was kind of weird. All of the sudden they were in battle and then the actual battle lasts like two chapters. I felt like since the whole book was leading up to this huge event, it should have taken more time and had more weight in the book. In the end it felt like the battle really didn’t even matter. The actual conclusion of the book was also pretty strange and I didn’t really understand exactly what happened. It seemed like the author maybe needed the book to end a certain way so she just kind of made it happen even if it left the readers a little confused. In the end it was just a little anticlimactic because of how confused I was.
Note: I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Note: I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This wasn't a bad book, but I didn't enjoy nearly as much as The Witch Hunter. It only adds to my book 2 plague of 2016.
I am really undecided about this book. I honestly couldn't give a lengthy review on it even if I tried.
It followed smoothly from the first, and for that, I'll give it credit. However, there just seemed like there was something lacking from this book until the last 90 pages or so. Maybe it was the jauntiness of the action and then non-action. Maybe it was the plot. Maybe it was the repetitiveness. Maybe, just maybe it was something else entirely.
I have no idea why, but King Slayer doesn't really give me any lasting impression, other than it is wonderfully written, and I like the characters of Elizabeth, Fifer, and Schulyer.
I think there were some things that should have been left well alone.
Also, I don't really remember how JohnxElizabeth came about, but in this instalment, it definitely seems more like an instalove situation.
I feel it was neither better or worse than the first book. Definitely on par.
It followed smoothly from the first, and for that, I'll give it credit. However, there just seemed like there was something lacking from this book until the last 90 pages or so. Maybe it was the jauntiness of the action and then non-action. Maybe it was the plot. Maybe it was the repetitiveness. Maybe, just maybe it was something else entirely.
I have no idea why, but King Slayer doesn't really give me any lasting impression, other than it is wonderfully written, and I like the characters of Elizabeth, Fifer, and Schulyer.
I think there were some things that should have been left well alone.
Also, I don't really remember how JohnxElizabeth came about, but in this instalment, it definitely seems more like an instalove situation.
I feel it was neither better or worse than the first book. Definitely on par.
This series is such a hidden gem and this sequel was a perfect ending to a fantastic duology.
Eh. I guess I expected more. I just wasn't too invested in this book.
I don't care too much for Elizabeth.
I despise John.
George was absent.
Fifer did nothing significant.
Nicholas bores me.
As does Malcom. And Blackwell. And pretty much every other character except Schulyer. But his only purpose is to help Elizabeth, read minds, and kill people. So much potential, but he was instead used as a weapon and toy. Sigh.
I don't care too much for Elizabeth.
I despise John.
George was absent.
Fifer did nothing significant.
Nicholas bores me.
As does Malcom. And Blackwell. And pretty much every other character except Schulyer. But his only purpose is to help Elizabeth, read minds, and kill people. So much potential, but he was instead used as a weapon and toy. Sigh.